[wowzer]

I really wish we as a community just set a date and ported. As it is right now there's almost zero chance that the project I'm working on will get ported to Python 3. I'm not sure what it'll take, but I really wish we were passed this stage.

[wspeirs]

This is the "problem" with not having things controlled by some central figure. Following the road example, the Dept of Transportation would simply open the new road, and close the old. You wouldn't have a chance to continue traveling down the old. This happens (to a large extent) with Java. Oracle opens the new road, then stops fixing potholes on the old one. You're not "forced" to move over, but eventually you stop wanting to fix your suspension.

That said, who is central enough to put an "end" date on Python and "force" people to move over?

[TeMPOraL]

> That said, who is central enough to put an "end" date on Python and "force" people to move over?

Guido van Rossum?

I'm not in the Python community - I barely know the language itself - but from the outside he seems to be a central figure? Doesn't he have enough authority to pull this off?

[nas]

Imagine you have a company that does something not related to software. You have some important business tools that are implemented in Python. What is your incentive to spent money and take the risk of new bugs porting to Python 3? It doesn't make business sense.

That's why there is still lots of COBOL in the world and why Python 2.x is going to live for many years, far past the 5 year predicted end of life. It will be far cheaper to make new releases of Python 2.x than to port the millions of lines of existing code.

Python 3 is nice, take a look at it. It probably will be easier porting than you think. However, don't feel like you are forced into moving to it. Python 2.x will continue to be around.

[gregor7777]

Why port it? IME the only projects we write in Python3 are new projects.

[coldtea]

>I really wish we as a community just set a date and ported.

The thing is there is no "community". There's a core team, smaller teams around some projects with their own ideas, and a huge number of individuals and companies using Python, each with their own needs, use cases and timelines...

[sp332]

Exactly. And those smaller communities are setting their own timelines. For example, Fedora just made Python3 the default for their next version. Arch Linux did this already, and other groups will change over when they're ready.

[markbnj]

I understand the desire, but there is no "we" in that sense. Those of us using python are a "community" in that we have shared interests, but not in the sense that we have shared risks and rewards. Each person/team has to deal with the constraints of their own specific situation. So, the bottom line is the tool either gains organic adoption or it doesn't. I really don't think having a king who can decree a switch is the answer. The answer would have been not forcing the choice in the beginning. Now the answer is probably going to be that more people look at alternative ecosystems that haven't suffered from this sort of schism.

[greggyb]

Like Python 2's 2020 EOL?